Introduction
A five-year action strategy to defeat AIDS in Black America
Welcome to Light at the End of the Tunnel, the 10th report on the State of AIDS In Black America. This is the Black AIDS Institute’s 19th report looking at the many challenges and opportunities confronting the Black response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in America.
When we published the Nia Plan in 1999, our first report on the epidemic in Black America, the AIDS response in Black communities was behind the curve. Awareness of the AIDS crisis in Black America was low, and commitment to address the problem was even lower. Even as HIV cases spiraled upward in Black America, the country as a whole looked the other
way.
While much work remains to be done to increase awareness and commitment, we’ve seen nothing short of a sea change in the response
to AIDS in Black America since the founding of the Black AIDS Institute
in 1999. Today, Black Americans report a higher level of personal awareness of AIDS and a greater commitment to fight it than any other racial or ethnic group in the country. Many Black political, faith, and civic leaders are working to turn the tide against AIDS in our communities, and grassroots AIDS leaders have emerged in Black neighborhoods nationwide.